How The Blood of Dawnwalker's Romance Options work with its calendar system

The Blood of Dawnwalkers romance option will be implemented slightly differently compared to a traditional RPG, according to developer Rebel Wolves. The difference stems from the game's atypical structure, which uses a calendar system that advances with each major action, forcing The Blood of Dawnwalker players to prioritize how they spend their time.

Announced in early 2024 and revealed a year later, The Blood of the Dawnwalker is an open-world RPG made by some CD Projekt Red veterans who previously worked on The Witcher franchise, which later went on to establish its own studio called Rebel Wolves. The Polish studio is currently in the final stages of development on its debut title, which is scheduled for release in September 2026 and will be published by Bandai Namco Entertainment.

The Blood of Dawnwalker Zelda Breath of the Wild Borrowed Feature

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The Blood of Dawnwalker Borrows A Key Zelda: Breath of the Wild Feature

Coming from former Witcher 3 developers, The Blood of Dawnwalker is an upcoming action RPG that seemingly borrows a key Zelda: Breath of the Wild feature.

The Blood of Dawnwalker will have several romantic options that will expand on Coen's character

Ahead of the game's launch, director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz confirmed it The Blood of Dawnwalker will include several romance options, albeit without directly listing them. Speaking to IGN, the industry veteran said that romance will not be the focus of the game, which primarily follows Coen, a man turned half-vampire as he tries to save his family. Even so, Tomaszkiewicz wanted to include romance quests for two reasons: because a large portion of modern open-world RPG players expect them in some form, and because Rebel Wolves saw them as an opportunity to further develop Coen.

At least some of the game's romance missions will advance time

The Blood of Dawnwalkeris almost Persona-like calendar system will be a major factor influencing its romantic options. Tomaszkiewicz acknowledged that players trying to “min-max” their limited time may conclude that matters of the heart aren't worth pursuing, suggesting that some or all romantic storylines will be treated as major time-advancing activities. For reference, The Blood of Dawnwalker gives players 30 in-game days and nights to complete Coen's story.

The optional nature of the game's romance options reflects the broader design philosophy Rebel Wolves is pursuing with its debut title. More generally, The Blood of Dawnwalker will allow players to tackle their regions in any order, kill any NPC, and, if something goes wrong, fail every mission without being locked out of ending the game. That emphasis on choice also promises to give the upcoming RPG significant replay value. Rebel Wolves previously suggested that it was relatively easy to make every mission fail because The Blood of Dawnwalker was designed around the idea of not having a traditional main mission. Players will technically be able to attempt to save the Coen family on day one, though that may prove too demanding, at least on a first playthrough.

Guess the games from the emojis.

Light (120s) Medium (90s) Hard (60s)

In related news, The Blood of Dawnwalker just locked in a release date: September 3, 2026. Rebel Wolves RPG will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, starting at $69.99. A $79.99 Eclipse Edition has also been revealed, with both now available for pre-order on all target platforms. As it stands right now, The Blood of Dawnwalker will debut as one of the last big budget games before the expected downturn in the industry GTA 6launch in mid-November. The RPG was previously announced as the first entry in a planned trilogy.